George's Island might soon be open to the Public

[fenwick16]

This sounds like great news. This would provide a great view of the city and be an interesting place to visit as a past military fortification. http://thechronicleherald.ca/NovaScotia/1164271.html

"One of the planned Nova Scotia projects is to open Georges Island to visitors coming to Halifax on cruise ships. The work on the island, located in the middle of the harbour, will include a new dock and washroom facilities.

Georges Island became a Parks Canada historic site in 1965.

"Georges Island is of interest to cruise ships," Mr. Prentice said.

"We’ve seen significant changes in tourism here with the frequency of cruise ships (in Halifax’s harbour)."

[haligonia]

thanks for starting this thread, fenwick16
Does the restoration work they are currently doing on the island include a dock and washrooms, or are these ideas just a proposal?

[fenwick16]

Originally Posted by haligonia

thanks for starting this thread, fenwick16
Does the restoration work they are currently doing on the island include a dock and washrooms, or are these ideas just a proposal?

I should have included more of the article. It states that $3.5 million has been allocated so it seems like it is a definite plan and includes "a new dock and washroom facilities"

"The federal investments for Nova Scotia’s parks include $10,443,000 for the Cabot Trail, $4 million for repairs to buildings at the Halifax Citadel, $3.5 million for Georges Island, $2 million for Fort McNab and $1 million for the Fortress of Louisbourg.

Mr. Prentice said the projects in Nova Scotia’s parks were carefully selected and are reflective of the priorities of attracting tourism and preserving historical sites across the province.

He said the recent investment is the largest amount of funding for Parks Canada in a generation.

One of the planned Nova Scotia projects is to open Georges Island to visitors coming to Halifax on cruise ships. The work on the island, located in the middle of the harbour, will include a new dock and washroom facilities.

Georges Island became a Parks Canada historic site in 1965.

"Georges Island is of interest to cruise ships," Mr. Prentice said.

"We’ve seen significant changes in tourism here with the frequency of cruise ships (in Halifax’s harbour)."

Michael Noonan, spokesman for the provincial Tourism, Culture and Heritage Department, said he is feeling positive about the federal government’s investment in the province’s parks infrastructure.

"It makes us able to market Nova Scotia as a visitor destination," said Mr. Noonan.

"We recognize the value of portraying Nova Scotia as an interesting, historical destination for visitors."

[pnightingale]

I hope they don't plan to open George's Island only to cruise ship passengers....

[ZET]

Originally Posted by pnightingale

I hope they don't plan to open George's Island only to cruise ship passengers....

I expect that it would be available to whoever would pay the ferry to get there. I was there during the summer one weekend that it was open. Very nice. Sort of like taking a ferry to dartmouth, looking around a bit and ferry back. Good way to see both sides of the harbour. ZET

[Dr SweetLove]

this is definatly BALLIN, I will take mah woman there for a summertime pick nic, an afternoon DE_LITE no doubt

[-Harlington-]

i think this is great, i would definitly go
it probly wont happen due to money and such but if this was another stop on the ferry to woodside it would be pretty cool and efficient

[Empire]

Originally Posted by -Harlington-

i think this is great, i would definitly go
it probly wont happen due to money and such but if this was another stop on the ferry to woodside it would be pretty cool and efficient

Maybe the Woodside Ferry could go to Georges when it isn't going to Woodside...which is most of the day?

[fenwick16]

A story in today's Chronicle Herald ( http://thechronicleherald.ca/Metro/1173939.html ) indicates that Georges Island will open to the public in the summer of 2012. This should be a good tourist attraction something like the Alcatraz in San Francisco (although less well known). I hope that they will do a good lob of restoring the tunnels (I assume that these connect the various bunkers on the island?). Too bad the myth isn't true; that there is a tunnel to Citadel Hill.

Georges Island opening delayed

By DAVENE JEFFREY Staff Reporter
Thu. Mar 25 - 4:54 AM

A plan to open Georges Island to the public is being delayed until the summer of 2012.

"We want to make sure the money that we had received will be best spent," said Barbara MacDonald, Parks Canada’s project manager for Georges Island.

Last year, Ottawa committed $3.5 million to build infrastructure on the small island at the mouth of Halifax Harbour, but so far most of that cash is still waiting to be spent.

"There haven’t been many expenditures made to date," MacDonald said.

Plans for opening the national historic site to the public had been drawn up several years ago, but MacDonald said those plans were not reflective of what visitors today would want.

Park officials went back to the drawing board and have been consulting with a number of groups, including Nova Scotia Tourism, the Waterfront Development Corporation and local tour operators.

MacDonald said they hope to have the planning stage completed by this summer and then move to a detailed design phase over the winter. "We plan to start construction next spring," she said.

MacDonald said they intend to give visitors either some access to the island’s famed tunnels or at least a taste of what the tunnels are like.

For the past two summers, Georges Island, which is usually closed to visitors, has hosted two-day open houses. There won’t be any such events this year, MacDonald said.

[spaustin]

Parks Canada = Lucy with the football and we're all Charlie Brown. This has been talked about in the past. No surprise it's not happening yet again.

[tribeachpunk]

What is the plan to shuttle people back and forth?

[halifaxboyns]

Originally Posted by tribeachpunk

What is the plan to shuttle people back and forth?

I know of talk that had occured with HRM transportation to build a ferry dock there so the Woodside ferry could stop there - that was one concept that had been considered. Also a couple smaller shuttle boats from near the Ferry Terminal in Halifax.

[tribeachpunk]

Originally Posted by halifaxboyns

I know of talk that had occured with HRM transportation to build a ferry dock there so the Woodside ferry could stop there - that was one concept that had been considered. Also a couple smaller shuttle boats from near the Ferry Terminal in Halifax.

Wouldn't be kind of a hassle if it was a stop en route to the other side of the harbour..?

Seems like a costly venture to provide public transport... Private shuttles make sense to me...

[halifaxboyns]

Originally Posted by tribeachpunk

Wouldn't be kind of a hassle if it was a stop en route to the other side of the harbour..?

Seems like a costly venture to provide public transport... Private shuttles make sense to me...

Well that was one of the issues of that idea - if memory serves. Plus considering that ferry only ran during peak hours; you'd then need money to pay for staff and operating costs outside those hours (which wouldn't be budgetted for).

[-Harlington-]

i read somewhere on the HRM website that they want to make more woodside trips and times and i always thought that a georges island stop wouldnt be to bad since when your on that ferry you could jump to it pretty much, i hope if they make the eastren passage ferry that they do the same with mcnabs island.
the harbour is very underutilized and should be more friendly to the public.

[tribeachpunk]

I'd be pretty annoyed if I used the ferry to commute from Halifax to Dartmouth and we had to stop at an abandoned island each trip.. It'd be a hassle for 99% of the ferry's users. I can't see this being a viable option.

[someone123]

I doubt they'd make stops at rush hour, but even so the Woodside option doesn't make a ton of sense. They could do a little ferry from Bishop's Landing or something.

[tribeachpunk]

Originally Posted by someone123

They could do a little ferry from Bishop's Landing or something.

That sounds reasonable to me

[Keith P.]

I don't know where this discussion belongs -- but it isn't in this section. Could a mod relocate it?

[fenwick16]

This is a real development with funding allocated ($3.5 million) for development. Most likely the ferry will be located in downtown Halifax so Halifax Peninsula and Downtown Dartmouth seemed like a logical place to put it.